Performance Appraisal: a Critical Review

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL:
A CRITICAL REVIEW
Abstract:Performance appraisal is used in many organizations in order to assess the performance of their employees. But there are some issues and problems that are associated with performance appraisal can have negative impacts on the performance of employees and can make it useless. These issues and problems are: absence of objective criteria, gender issues, rater’s bias, social and ethnic issues. And there are empirical research evidences that are very much consistent with the problems and issues I identified before. But performance appraisal should not be abandoned due to the problems mentioned above. Its can prove very effective if used by trained appraisers in a constructive manner using objective criteria against which the performance of the appraisee to be checked. It not only reviews the performance of an employee but also helps to identify training and development needs of the appraise. Introduction:

In organizations, there are some formal and informal methods of performance assessment, and performance appraisal is one of the most widely used formal methods of the assessment of performance. Performance appraisal is also a valuable tool of performance management in organizations as CIPD describes that:”Performance appraisal is an important part of performance management. In itself it is not performance management, but it is one of the range of tools that can be used to manage performance” (CIPD, 2008).

CIPD (2008) describes that performance appraisal essentially provides an opportunity to the appraisees and appraiser to review and discuss, in a constructive manner, the performance of the appraisee and possible reasons and determinants of his or her bad performance in a one on one meeting. It also provides an opportunity to them to identify and set objectives regarding training and development for the future and to reach an agreement about the possible actions required getting those objectives and the support the individual or appraisee expects from the manager. If performance appraisal is conducted in a sensitive and constructive manner, then it can establish a positive relationship between the individuals and the line managers. Aims and objectives of performance appraisal:

There are some clear aims and objectives for conducting performance appraisal in organizations, and these objectives are listed and described below: 1. One purpose of conducting a performance appraisal is to exercise organizational control 2. The main purpose of a performance appraisal system is to review the performance of individuals over a period of time 3. Performance appraisal is also aimed at finding out that the appraisee is productive or not. 4. One purpose of performance appraisal is to review the actual performance of an employee against the set objectives or desired standards. 5. Another important objective of conducting a performance appraisal is to find training and development needs of the appraisee. 6. One purpose is to identify the type of support the appraisee expects from the management in order to meet those training and development needs. Key elements of performance appraisal:

CIPD (2008) has described following five key elements of performance appraisal: 1. Measurement – individual’s performance is assessed against agreed standards and objectives. 2.Feedback – the individual or appraisee is provided information on his performance and progress after the performance has been assessed. 3.Positive reinforcement – the appraiser recognises the good performance and make constructive criticism about the aspects of performance where there is a need of improvement. 4.Exchange of views – there is a dialogue between the appraiser and the appraisee about the outcomes of the assessment, and how appraisees can improve their performance, the support they need from their managers to achieve this and their aspirations for their future career. 5.Agreement – an agreement is...

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